


Crashes In The Night

by autumndark



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, donghyuck is the sassy as hell best friend you could ever want, lucas is a ghost, mark is a stressed college student that worries about everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 19:10:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13910358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumndark/pseuds/autumndark
Summary: In which Lucas is the loudest ghost ever that is lowkey sad that he is dead and lonely, and Mark is a stressed college kid that just wants to study and is a workaholic overachiever that doesn’t sleep or eat enough.Lucas is a ghost that worries about Mark while Mark tries his best and worries about everything else.





	Crashes In The Night

**Author's Note:**

> i feel like this is self-indulgent and hardly anyone ships this (marcas? lumark? idek) but here it is anyway. if you do end up reading it, i sincerely hope that you enjoy it. ♥

When Mark had moved into his tiny, one-person dorm in his first year of college, he had been expecting certain things. 

Firstly, that it would be small and cramped and possibly infested with ants.

And secondly, that he would have to get used to taking the stairs on a regular basis because the elevator was constantly ‘out-of-order’, according to the landlord.

Since the rent was cheap, Mark had been prepared for a few, minor drawbacks and figured that he would be able to manage it just fine. 

Although it was small, Mark knew that he would be spending most of the time in his dorm studying, eating, or sleeping, and that if he really wanted more space he could venture down to the library, or visit Donghyuck, Jeno, and Jaemin, who had decided to splurge and split rent on a house to share together that was further away from campus. 

His friends had invited Mark to come and live with them as well, but Mark had refused when he had realised that as a scholarship student and with the amount of clubs and societies that Mark was planning on getting involved in, it would be best if he lived as close to the campus as possible.

When Mark had expressed his reasoning to them, Jeno had smiled fondly, eyes crinkling up at the corners and muttered ‘typical, fully-capable Mark’. 

Jaemin had told him that he was welcome anytime and to let them know if he changed his mind. 

Conversely, Donghyuck had called him an ‘overachiever goody-two-shoes’ and told him that he was lucky that Donghyuck liked him enough to make sure that Mark had 'at least, some fun in his life’. 

That was probably just Donghyuck’s way of letting Mark know that he planned to drop in on Mark as often as possible and that he, _maybe, possibly,_ would miss seeing Mark on a daily basis.

The problem was the _third_ condition that was attached to the little apartment. 

Mark’s dorm also came with its very own ghostly inhabitant.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


On the day that Mark had moved in, he had been busily rushing around sorting out his enrolment information and paperwork, and was squeezing in his furniture delivery and family goodbyes in between, so much so that he had not had enough time or energy to notice if there was anything amiss about his new home.

In fact, Mark was just pleased to note that there weren’t any ants or strange smells coming from within the apartment and had promptly fallen asleep as soon as he had laid his head down on his newly-installed bed.

The rest of the week had progressed similarly, with Mark spending most of his time outside, mingling with new student associations and orientation activities, as well as getting his classes in order and making time for his friends from high-school.

Therefore, Mark had not noticed the slight alterations to his possessions or the way that things were not always in the same positions that he had left them in. 

In particular, there was one box that contained his writing notebooks, where Mark often would pen down any inspiring quotes or fragments of lyrics that had drifted into his thoughts, that had mysteriously unpacked itself and his books now laid sprawled disorderly on top of his desk. 

Upon seeing that, Mark had scratched his head confusedly and assumed that he must have either done it in a sleep-deprived state or perhaps Jaemin or Jeno had considerately tried to help him unpack when his friends had visited earlier.

There had also been odd sounds in the nighttime, that sounded like high-pitched cackling or low groaning, and on those nights, Mark would find his laptop or TV left on in the morning. Shrugging it off as his own carelessness, Mark had also dismissed the noises, determining them to be either coming from his neighbours (the walls were rather thin, after all) or the squawking of animals.

This had carried on for a couple of weeks after Mark had moved in, before he had decided to mention it offhandedly to Donghyuck over the phone.

The younger boy had simply laughed and replied unhelpfully.

“Maybe your dorm is haunted."

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


University life continues on as normal, sweeping Mark up into a hurricane of activities that leaves him without much time for personal worries, however Donghyuck’s throwaway statement somehow keeps lingering inside Mark’s head.

 _Could his dorm really be haunted?_

The apartment doesn’t _feel_  haunted, and there certainly have not been any ghosts yelling at him and trying to scare Mark into moving out of the place. 

There was one time though, where Mark was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud crashing noise coming from the kitchen. When he had gotten out of bed to investigate, Mark hadn’t found anything out of place except for a single mug lying in the middle of the counter. The cup had been clean and there were a few scattered droplets of water surrounding it, that hadn’t dried yet.

Mark remembers putting the mug there before he had went to bed, but he distinctly remembers that he had not bothered to wash it first, debating with himself to sleep now and wash it in the morning even if the residual tea would leave a stain. 

It was odd.

Mark chews on his lip and ponders it before ultimately deciding that it can wait until he has finished outlining his first assignment in college, and dives back into his work, beginning to type fervently on his laptop.

The two or three hours of sleep that he has been getting each night this week are starting to catch up with him and Mark feels his eyelids getting heavier as he tries to focus on his laptop. 

The rows of text begin to blur together and Mark finds himself staring at the blinking cursor without being able to string together a sentence of anything substantial. 

Mark remembers shutting his eyes to give them a break from the harsh glow of his laptop’s screen before passing out at his desk.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


_Tap, tap, tap._

Mark scrunches his face at the noise.

It sounds like keys clacking on a keyboard and irritates Mark in his sleep, drawing him out of dreamland. 

He keeps his eyes closed, trying to chase sleep again, when he hears a loud ‘ding’ sound coming from his laptop.

Waking up, Mark raises his head and finds himself staring face-to-face with a boy.

“Oh, shit!” says the boy, voice surprisingly deep and filling up the silence of the room with his loudness.

“What? Who are you?” mumbles Mark, still groggy from his nap.

Mark looks at the boy, who seems to be taking up most of the space in his tiny room with his tall and lanky frame. The boy also has floppy blond hair and a rather young-looking face, despite his height, with big eyes and large facial features.

Squinting up at the other, Mark thinks out aloud, mostly sounding perplexed rather than accusatory.

“What are you doing here? How did you even get in?”

The boy freezes for a moment before waving his hands around.

“You didn’t- Um, I’m not!” he starts, desperately, before settling on “You didn’t see anything!”

The boy makes no move to leave, choosing to stay standing in the middle of Mark’s room, and doesn’t offer any other explanation for his presence.

 _Am I hallucinating right now?_

Mark continues to stare at the strange boy wordlessly.

“This is all your fault!” shouts the boy, spinning around and pointing a finger at the laptop sitting innocently on Mark’s desk.

Bringing both hands up to his own face, Mark rubs his eyes and then drags his fingers down his cheek, sighing deeply. 

When he opens his eyes again, there is nobody in front of him. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Again, Mark starts to wonder if there really is some merit to Donghyuck’s ghost theory.

Ever since that eventful night when he had awoken to some strange boy yelling at his laptop, Mark has been pondering if he has been sharing his apartment with some kind of ghostly presence or if he is actually going crazy from stress.

Currently, Donghyuck is standing in Mark’s kitchenette and forcing Mark to sit down and eat some kimchi fried rice after he had learnt that the older boy had been planning on eating plain rice and a hot dog for the third time this week.

“I think you might be right.” begins Mark, apropos of nothing.

“Small child,” Donghyuck says, despite being both the younger and shorter one between the two of them, as he places a plate of piping hot food in front of Mark, “I don’t know what you are referring to, but of course I am right.”

Bringing his own plate over, Donghyuck sits down opposite Mark and tells him, “Now eat."

The fried rice smells amazing and the egg on top is cooked to perfection, as always. 

“Oh my god, wow. Haechan, this looks amazing.” says Mark emphatically, using their childhood nickname for Donghyuck. 

Mark takes a bite and chews. It tastes as good as it looks. 

Cooking in general is a mystery to Mark and he appreciates Donghyuck taking the time and effort to go out of his way to cook for him, but Mark can’t help but worry that he is wasting Donghyuck’s time that he could be using for other purposes.

“You know, you didn’t have to come over and cook for me.” says Mark.

“Of course I did, can you even function on your own?” replies Donghyuck, waving his chopsticks in the air sassily. “If it were up to you, all you would do is study and rack up extra-curricular credits like other people collect baseball cards.”

Mark raises his head and asks sincerely, “Do people even collect baseball cards anymore?”

“I don’t know, idol photocards then. Does it matter?” Donghyuck raises a hand in a shrug, before pointing his chopsticks accusingly at Mark. “The point is you don’t take a lot of care of your own well-being.”

Mark can’t really refute the claim because it is true and they both know it. He chews his food silently.

“Anyway, tell me what I am supposedly right about so that I can rub it in your face.” continues the younger boy, biting into a chunk of sausage.

“I think my dorm might be haunted.” says Mark, shrinking down in his seat like he expects Donghyuck to start lecturing him again.

“What.” deadpans the younger, setting down his chopsticks. “Elaborate.”

“Okay, okay, hear me out.” Mark replies quickly, glancing furtively around his apartment as though the walls might be listening in. 

“Things keep moving around, there are weird noises at night, and my phone and laptop and stuff keep coming on randomly and being left on like, Chinese and Thai shows that I don’t watch.” 

There is a drawn-out silence as his friend processes Mark’s story.

“Okaaay.” says Donghyuck, drawing out the word. “Do you think maybe your neighbour is trying to mess with you? They might be stealing your wifi or something.”

“No. I met my neighbours and they’re all really nice.” Mark pauses and rests a hand on his chin thoughtfully. “Although, one of them is Chinese and another is from Thailand, so maybe…” 

Donghyuck adopts a smug look and seems like he’s about to spit out a snarky remark so Mark cuts him off before he gets the chance.

“But also! I, er, _saw_ someone. In my room, once. In the middle of the night.” admits Mark, hastily.

Mark wonders if maybe he shouldn’t have admitted that last part out loud.

 _“What?”_

Donghyuck looks torn between wanting to dive across the table and shake Mark by the shoulders, and slapping his own forehead with his palm. He settles for glaring disdainfully at the older boy.

Feeling judged, Mark amends, waving his hands dismissively. “He didn’t do anything weird. Or, too weird, anyway. He seemed harmless."

Crossing his arms, Donghyuck interrogates him. “When was this?"

“Like, last week?” squeaks Mark.

Donghyuck raises his hands in the air and drags them through his orange-coloured hair.

“Last week! And you’re only telling me this now?” exclaims Donghyuck before sighing exaggeratedly.

Sheepishly, Mark pushes his rice around the plate and avoids looking up. “Listen, I’m not entirely sure if this actually happened or not. But like, he didn’t seem bad. I don’t feel unsafe or anything.”

Taking a peek, he finds that Donghyuck has finally stopped glaring and has uncrossed his arms. 

The younger boy makes a disapproving noise but concedes to drop the issue for now.

“You better let me know if anything else happens. And just come over if you think something weird is going on."

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


The same weird things continue to happen but Mark doesn’t see the ‘ghost boy’ again until he has been living in the dorm for over a month.

It’s nearing mid-term season, and all of Mark’s professors are assigning projects and essays that are due within the same stretch of time. 

Recently, Mark has been spending a lot of his time in the library because the internet there feels faster and he doesn’t have to worry about eating away at his data. However, the problem with working at the library is that Mark returns to his dorm late at night feeling tired and mentally drained, especially since he has been surviving off of Red Bull and biscuits this week in lieu of actually doing his grocery shopping and restocking his empty fridge.

It’s close to midnight when Mark comes home tonight. 

Walking up the flights of stairs to his apartment appears to have sapped the last remnants of Mark’s energy supply because his head feels unbearably heavy as he slips off his sneakers and approaches his bedroom. 

Near the doorway, he feels his body tipping forward precariously but Mark can’t quite muster up enough energy to catch himself. He idly thinks that his shelf looks awfully pointy as he goes down, when suddenly he’s not falling anymore.

He stares down at the carpet.

 _That’s odd._

Raising his head, Mark doesn’t see anyone when he looks up either. 

He feels arms coiling around his waist and looks down instead, confirming that yes, there are a pair of tanned arms secured tightly around his body.

Twisting himself around, Mark looks up and finds a pair of wide eyes staring down at him, belonging to a familiar face.

“Oh, it’s you again.” Mark says before promptly passing out.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


The bed feels soft and warm and all Mark wants to do is snuggle deeper into the blankets and sleep for a year but his alarm is starting to beep incessantly from across the room where he’d left his phone.

 _Just 10 more seconds and then I’ll get up and switch it off._

Resolving to wake up when he reaches ’10’ this time, _really_ , Mark opens his eyes and sits up at the same time that his alarm abruptly stops by itself.

Holding Mark’s phone in his sizeably large hands, Mark watches as Ghost Boy fiddles with the phone’s screen, nearly dropping it on the floor when he notices Mark staring.

“Oh! Um! You’re awake.”

The boy’s deep voice reverberates around the room and he sends Mark a toothy grin, looking mildly embarrassed that he had gotten caught.

“What time is it?” asks Mark, blearily.

The tall boy seems a bit taken aback that Mark doesn’t seem to be appropriately freaked out that there is a stranger in his room, who presumably tucked him into his bed and is now tampering with Mark’s phone.

“It’s like, 8am?” replies the boy, coming closer to Mark and showing him the clock on his phone. “I know that you usually have a class in the morning on Wednesdays but I thought you needed to sleep a bit longer so I turned it off.”

“What?” Mark squeaks out.

Perhaps he is beginning to look freaked out now because Ghost Boy starts launching into an explanation to try and calm Mark down.

“I mean, it’s not like I stalk you or anything! No way, dude! It’s just that I have your schedule memorised. But it’s not like, intentional or anything, ya know? I just watch you a lot so I ended up learning it.” The boy begins to wave his hands around, voice pitching up as he gets more excitable. "Not that I watch you either! Me? I’d never do that, I’m no stalker. There’s not much going on so I just watch… you… a lot.” 

He trails off and starts laughing awkwardly. 

It sort of sounds like the cackling noises that Mark hears at night occasionally.

“What? No, I’m not mad.” says Mark, pushing his covers off and straightening up. "You’re like, a ghost right? You seem friendly.”

Mark runs a hand through his hair, patting the ruffled strands to lie down neater, and hops out of bed.

“But my class is as 8:30 and it’s already like, ten minutes past 8, I gotta go.” says Mark, checking around his room for his notebooks.

“Wait! No, no, no.” says the boy, gently grabbing Mark by the shoulders and firmly planting him back down on the bed. “You! You stay there.”

Ghost Boy frowns down at Mark sternly with his hands on his hips. It should look intimidating, what with the other boy’s large stature and everything, but somehow Mark doesn’t feel very threatened.

Mark smiles up at him placatingly. “Dude, I gotta go to class.”

“But you didn’t eat anything before you passed out, and I don’t think you ate anything before that either. When was the last time you ate?” asks the boy, concern seeping into his voice even though he is basically a stranger (that apparently has Mark’s schedule memorised).

What the tall ghost is saying is something that Mark has heard multiple times from his friends, and even some of the upperclassmen in his student unions. One of his TAs, named Lee Taeyong, seems to always be fussing about Mark and worrying about whether he is eating or sleeping enough, despite the fact that Taeyong himself is a known workaholic. 

Mark supposes that how Mark feels when he looks at Taeyong is how Mark’s friends feel about him.

“Do you even remember?” prompts the ghost.

Wordlessly, Mark shakes his head. He had meant to grab something after leaving the library but finishing off all of the citations had taken longer than he had expected and at that point, all Mark had wanted to do was fall into his bed and pass out for 12 hours.

“I know you, Mark, because I’ve been watching you.” Ghost Boy does the classic gesture of pointing at his own eyes and then pointing his fingers at Mark, but then breaks character by smiling and waving his hand about, adding flippantly, “In like a non-creepy way, because I’m a ghost or whatever.”

He squats down in front of Mark, somehow folding his long limbs into the small space beside Mark’s bed. “And I think that you should eat something. Or at least sleep more, sleep is good."

Glancing back at his pillow, Mark can’t deny that more sleep sounds like a rather inviting choice at the moment. His brain feels like a fog.

When he doesn’t argue back, Mark allows Ghost Boy to manoeuvre him backwards onto the bed and tuck him in.

“Shhh, go back to sleep.” he says, lightly patting Mark on the head.

Making himself comfortable under the covers again, Mark asks him, “Um, actually, what do you do when I’m asleep?”

“Well, usually I watch dramas and movies, or use your internet. There’s a lot of stuff to catch up on!” he answers, cheerfully. “But sometimes I’ll just sit and watch a cute boy sleeping.”

“Oh.” Mark feels himself flushing at the bold statement. 

The comforting arms of sleep are creeping up on him again. Yawning, Mark asks “Hey, what’s your name?”

As his eyelids begin to droop closed, he hears the reply.

“Lucas.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


When Mark wakes up again, the room is darker and his body feels well-rested for the first time in a month. His head also feels clearer and, upon checking the time, Mark notes that it is late in the evening already, meaning that he has slept through most of the day.

His phone informs him that he has several new messages that he had missed from multiple people.

Checking them quickly, Mark finds that his project partner Jungwoo had asked him about their meet-up plans.

  


**Jungwoo (behavioural psychology):**  
hey mark! are we supposed to be meeting up today in the library i dont remember

 **Jungwoo (behavioural psychology):**  
nvm i checked my notes! see you tomorrow~ :)

  


Mark fires off a quick text letting Jungwoo know that they are meeting tomorrow and that he’ll see him soon.

There is also a notice from Johnny Seo, the president of the foreign students association, informing him about an upcoming event that they will need to start preparing for. Mark decides that it can wait for now.

Finally, there are a series of messages from his group chat with his high-school friends.

  


**Dream Team (4)**

**jenolee:**  
hey marklee! we’re heading to the cafeteria after this class u wanna come?

**haechance:**  
mork u better come i know ur reading this

**nana:**  
my class just finished! i’m walking over now :D

**jenolee:**  
i’m here now where r u?

**jenolee:**  
nvm i see u

**haechance:**  
mark r u alive

**nana:**  
markkuriiiiiii D:

**haechance:**  
mark istg if ur lying dead in a ditch i will come n find u n kill u again n then laugh at u

  


**Lee Donghyuck (Haechan):**  
mark you better be alive and well so that i can yell at you

  


Mark decides to reply straight away and apologise for worrying his friends.

  


 

**Dream Team (4)**

**marklee99:**  
guys i’m really sorry i was sleeping and only saw this now

**marklee99:**  
lets meet up soon

  


  
He also makes sure to send an individual reply to Donghyuck.  


  


**Me:**  
i’m sorry for worrying you hyuck

i’ll try to take better care of myself

  


The reply comes instantly.

  


**Lee Donghyuck (Haechan):**  
oh thank god i was abt to call the cops or smthg

n tell them that u were planning on robbing a bank so theyd find u faster  


  
**Me:**  
i’m really sorry. i feel bad that i was sleeping  


  
**Lee Donghyuck (Haechan):**  
gdi i want to yell at u for being a dumbass but i also dont want to make u   
feel guilty for sleeping bc UR SUPPOSED TO SLEEP MORE

IDIOT

anyway im gonna come over tmr n force feed u if i have to  


  
**Me:**  
you’re the best haechan  


  
**Lee Donghyuck (Haechan):**  
i know i am

  


Smiling, feeling touched but also still a bit guilty, Mark pockets his phone and decides to head out to the ‘living area’ (that is, the small one-room section that is the rest of his dorm, basically).

As he steps out of his bedroom, Mark can hear music playing accompanied by deep, muffled noises, followed by a loud clap.

Mark had almost forgotten about his ghostly roommate. 

 _Lucas, he’d said his name was._

Peering around the doorframe, Mark sees Lucas bobbing his head rhythmically and whispering to himself. It sounds like Lucas may have discovered Mark’s rap playlist and is currently listening to it.

Lucas is in the middle of a verse when he spies Mark approaching him.

“Oh! You’re finally awake!” exclaims Lucas, seemingly unabashed at being caught mid-rap. He lowers the volume on Mark’s laptop. “Hello, sleeping beauty.”

“Hi.” replies Mark, touching the back of his head self-consciously.

Lucas looks him over and asks “Do you feel better now?”

“Oh, yes, I feel much better. Thank you.” Mark smiles reassuringly but the effect is ruined because his stomach chooses to grumble loudly. 

“Hmmm. Let’s get you something to eat.” Lucas hums thoughtfully before standing up, closing Mark’s computer shut. “Your cupboard is like, super empty? There’s nothing in there.”

The ghost gestures at Mark towards the door.

“Wait? We’re going out?” asks Mark, eyes widening in shock. He waves a finger between the two of them. “Like, together? Like- You can go outside?”

Handing Mark one of his hoodies that was left lying on the chair, Lucas grins. It softens his face and makes him look a lot younger, more boyish. The ghost replies with a laugh.

“Yeah man, I can go outside.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Sitting in a 24-hour McDonald’s with a ghost sounds like a surreal idea in theory but it actually feels quite normal.

Mark bites down on his burger and has to suppress himself from moaning out loud. This is like the first proper (if you can consider fries and a burger, ‘proper’) meal that he’s had in five days.

Opposite him, Lucas watches him eat whilst playing with a bunch of straws that he had collected from the counter.

“I can’t really eat anything.” he had explained.

After polishing off two burgers, Mark picks idly at his fries and decides that now is probably a good time to answer some important questions.

“So how come you can go outside? I thought you could only stay in my dorm. Or like, are you haunting _me_ or something?” asks Mark, dusting the salt off his fingers.

Lucas looks up from his straws.

“Nah dude, I can go wherever I want. But I was just staying in your dorm until you arrived because that was originally going to be mine. Before I, you know.” Lucas stops and makes a cutting motion with his hand across his neck. He continues, unperturbed. “And then afterwards, I kinda wanted to see what it was like to be a college student, so I decided to observe you.” 

“I see.” says Mark, thoughtfully, as he takes a sip of his Coke.

"Also, I thought that you were cute!” shouts Lucas, his outburst causing several of the straws to go flying across the table.

Coughing slightly, Mark replies “Ahh, not really. But so does that mean that you’re like my age?”

“I guess so? I was meant to enrol in university like last semester but because I’m a foreigner, I’m from Hong Kong by the way, it got delayed or whatever and well, I guess I missed my chance.” 

Lucas looks down at the table, his voice doesn’t sound any different than usual but talking about this subject is a rather depressing.

Mark decides to change the topic and make the conversation a bit lighter.

“You’re from Hong Kong? Dude, I’m Canadian. We’re both foreign swaggers.” Mark says enthusiastically, lifting his hand at Lucas for a high-five.

It seems to have been the right thing to say because Lucas brightens up and returns the high-five.

“I know. You’re from Vancouver right?” says Lucas. He then continues in English in a booming voice,  _“What’s up man? English? Me, no problem.”_

Mark starts giggling and the cashier begins to send them odd looks.

Between laughs, Mark manages to say “Oh right, I forgot that you already know everything about me.”

Raising a smug eyebrow, Lucas whispers “I’m watching you” in reply and makes the gesture for it again.

At this, Mark glances around and suddenly notices the cashier staring.

“Oh my god, I just realised. Hey, can other people see you too or do I just look like a crazy person sitting here laughing by myself?” asks Mark quickly, throwing his hood over his hair and rolling the sleeves over his hands.

Cackling, Lucas laughs and says “She’s probably looking at _me_ thinking that _I’m_ the crazy one.” He turns and sends the employee a nod.

Moving his attention back to Mark, Lucas continues his explanation. “Nah, people can see me if I let them, but I have to concentrate. If there’s too many people, it gives me a headache.”

“So you decided to let me see you?” asks Mark, unfurling himself from his hoodie cocoon.

“Well, I didn’t really have a choice when you started passing out in front of me.” says Lucas, matter-of-factly.

Sheepishly, Mark sends Lucas an apologetic smile. “Oh, right.”

“But also, it would be a shame to not let at least one person appreciate this handsome body.” Lucas adds on, throwing Mark a wink.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Donghyuck visits the next day, late in the afternoon, after Mark has returned from his project meeting with Jungwoo.

He has somehow managed to bring over with him several containers of food, filled with _samgyetang, kimchi jeon_ and _dakgalbi._

Everything is delicious as always and Mark feels stuffed by the time he finishes eating two of the containers, so Donghyuck tells him to keep the rest and to eat them over the week.

Sighing, Donghyuck says, long-sufferingly, “How would you even survive without me?"

The younger boy then proceeds to lecture Mark on proper eating and sleeping habits, and reminds Mark that he can’t achieve a 4.0 GPA if he’s dead or lying knocked out in a coma. The speech seems more emotionally-charged than usual and Mark is aware that he has made his friend more concerned this time than Donghyuck tries to let on.

Resolving to make it up to his friend sometime, Mark decides not to tell Donghyuck about Lucas for now in case it agitates the younger further, either thinking that Mark has started hallucinating due to sleep deprivation (possible) or that Lucas is trying to cause harm to Mark (unlikely).

Bringing up the topic again will only cause Donghyuck to worry about Mark more, and Mark doesn’t want to worry anyone.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Things improve for the next two weeks as Mark makes sure that he eats three meals a day and adheres to a regular sleeping schedule. He also meets up with his friends and spends time at their shared house over the mid-semester break and all in all, generally feels like he is coping rather well. 

Lucas is mostly visible in Mark’s dorm and talks to him sometimes when Mark is free, but otherwise he occupies himself with watching shows or disappears from the dorm completely on occasions, usually when he thinks Mark will be out or sleeping. It is sort of like what Mark imagines having a roommate must be like, if that roommate didn’t take up any space, eat any food, sleep, or pay rent. 

They avoid talking about how Lucas became a ghost ( _how he died_ , Mark’s mind supplies helpfully) and why there don’t seem to be any other ghosts around for him to befriend. 

The problems arrive after Mark’s university break ends and classes resume.

Not only are there multiple highly-weighted assessments in the first week back, there are also club activities and student union responsibilities that Mark needs to attend to, including helping to organise the foreign students association event. 

It’s a packed schedule that Mark is trying to balance and he wonders if he really has bitten off more than he can chew this time.

Jaehyun, one of the upperclassmen in Mark’s psychology mentoring program, comments that “You must be nearly as much of a masochist as Taeyong is, if you’re trying to juggle that many things at once.”

Nearly, because Lee Taeyong is a tightly-wound ball of stress that subsists off of caffeine and high expectations. 

Mark doesn’t think that he is quite that bad. 

 _Yet._

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


It happens on a Friday night, when most college freshman kids are out partying or drinking or, at the very least, having fun on the internet.

Mark has finished overseeing the dinner event with Johnny and some of the other council members, and is heading home after staying back to help with some of the cleaning up. 

“Hey kid, you can head back first. We’ll take care of the rest.” says Johnny, laying a hand on Mark’s bony shoulder like an older brother. 

“Will you make it back okay? You look beat.” adds Ten, tracing a finger over Mark’s under-eye circles.

“I’ll be alright. My dorm is nearby.” replies Mark, shaking his head and not wanting to worry them.

“I know, but are you sure? We can send someone to go with you, I think Yuta is still around here somewhere.” replies Ten, craning his neck around the empty hall. ”Where did he run off to?"

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.” repeats Mark, turning around to go.

“Well, alright then. Take care.” Ten concedes, waving Mark goodbye.

As Mark leaves, Johnny tacks on “Text us when you get back alright? Enjoy the rest of your weekend."

The campus is dark at night and Mark walks quickly, burying his fingers into his pockets to ward off the chill. Mark can’t help but sneeze a couple of times, and he sniffs loudly to try and get his nose under control. 

 _I hope I’m not catching a cold, I can’t afford to get one now._

The next sneeze catches him off-guard and is particularly powerful. It makes him stop in his tracks, and leaves Mark feeling dizzy and light-headed. 

It almost feels like he might faint. Again.

His legs start to lose strength.

As he begins to fall down, Mark only has one thought on his mind.

 _Lucas._

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Hey. Hey, wake up.”

There’s a low rumble near his ear before warm arms surround him and pick him up, carrying him like a child.

Mark opens his eyes.

“Oh. You came.” he says, blearily staring up at the other boy’s face.

Lucas smiles charmingly.

“What kind of handsome ghost knight in shining armour would I be if I can’t answer a call for help from you?” 

Lucas’ hold on him is secure and Mark wonders if the other was always that strong when he was alive too, or if superhuman strength is a perk of becoming a ghost.

“You heard me?” asks Mark.

“Well, yeah. I kind of, keep an eye out on your, what would you call it, energy signature?” Lucas answers, adjusting his hold on Mark’s body. 

If he wasn’t currently preoccupied with carrying Mark and walking, Mark imagines that Lucas would probably be flailing his arms around as he tries to explain Mark’s ‘energy’. 

"I don’t know man, but I always know where you are. And I definitely felt you calling me for help earlier.” Lucas glances down at Mark, worry painted on his countenance. “You’re lucky you have me to come to your rescue, y’know.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.” Mark replies, looking down shamefully.

Lucas doesn’t reply and keeps walking towards their dorm.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Once inside, Mark cranks up his heater and makes himself a cup of tea to drink while he eats something, figuring that he shouldn’t go to bed on an empty stomach again.

Lucas joins him at the table, sitting on the other empty chair and turning to face Mark.

“What your friend said was right, you know.” opens Lucas, face uncharacteristically serious. “At this rate, you’ll be working yourself into an early grave like this. And I don’t think that you should want to be like me.”

The steam from his mug rises slowly as Mark stares at it and swirls around in the air, dissipating into nothing.

Finally, Mark replies. 

“I know. I understand that, everything that you and all of the others keep telling me.” Mark whispers, curling his fingers around the mug of tea.

“But?” prompts Lucas.

“But... I don’t know. I just feel like I have to maintain my scholarship and meet everyone’s expectations and… what else am I supposed to do with myself?” says Mark, looking at Lucas like he has all of the answers to his questions.

“I don’t think you should be worried about those things. You’re a very capable person, Mark. But right now, you are not taking care of yourself and isn’t that a more urgent worry to have?” says Lucas, resting his cheek on his hand. 

He looks sombre and sad and not-like-Lucas.

Mark licks his lips and leans forward, staring up into Lucas’ eyes. “Lucas. How did you die?”

“It’s nothing too dramatic. I was flying back from Hong Kong to Korea and there was an accident. That’s all.” states Lucas, as though he is discussing something that happened to someone else.

Softly, Mark responds “I see.”

He’s not really sure what the proper response to something like that is supposed to be. 

Tilting his head to the side, Lucas elaborates “I don’t really remember much, I just know that I was really excited to start university and try all these new things.”

“I’m sorry.” says Mark, quietly.

Lucas waves him off, shaking his head. “It’s not your fault. And you apologise too much anyways.”

“Sor- oh, right.” 

Flushing, Mark shrinks down in his seat. He fiddles with the string of the tea bag, mindlessly.

Chuckling, Lucas tells him “It’s okay.”

“Are you sure that you’re dead though? Why are you still lingering around?” asks Mark, leaning forward again.

Teasingly, Lucas replies “Aww, do you want me gone that badly?” 

Feigning hurt, Lucas puts a hand on the left side of his chest and visibly recoils as though Mark’s words are causing him pain. 

Flustered, Mark starts babbling, both his mouth and hands moving rapidly. “Of course not! That’s not what I meant. Stay as long as you want! You can haunt me forever if you want.”

Lucas narrows his eyes and smirks, the left corner of his mouth lifting up. 

“Forever, huh?” he repeats back in his deep voice.

“Um, sure.” says Mark, uncertainly. "But how did you like,  _know_?”

Scrunching up his face, Lucas recalls what happened. “When I woke up in Hong Kong, I thought that I was dreaming. Or that I went back in time or something, because wasn’t I just on a plane?” He lifts a hand up quizzically.

Mark nods, encouragingly.

Pausing, Lucas draws a pattern on the table with his finger before finally continuing.

“But then I, uh, saw my funeral.”

“Oh my god, that’s…” gasps Mark, staring at Lucas despairingly.

Lucas nods but then shrugs flippantly. “Yeah but like, how many people can say that they attended their own funeral? It’s actually kinda cool.”

Mark wants to agree but instead he continues to stare at Lucas in a muted shock. 

Unbothered, Lucas continues without waiting for Mark’s input. “But well, it’s whatever, eventually I decided to try and come over here since that’s where I was supposed to end up and I didn’t have anything going on anyways.” 

Lucas then sprawls himself out on the table, resting his chin on his hands. "It took a lot of energy to travel all the way over here. But I got to see what university life is like and I got to meet a cute little boy like you so I think it worked out okay.”

Ignoring the ‘cute’ remark, again, Mark asks “Do you think that we would have become friends?”

It’s strange to think that the two of them could have ended up in the same university at the same time, possibly even lived in the same block. 

 _Would it be that different from how things are now?_

“Who knows? Maybe, maybe not.” Lucas shrugs. He doesn’t bother to put any further thought into it.

Mark supposes that there isn’t much point in dwelling over ‘what if’s anymore.

“Is it lonely, being a ghost?” he asks.

Pondering the question, Lucas stares up at the ceiling before replying “Sort of. I get to see a lot of people, but I mainly only interact with you, Mark. But that’s enough for me!” He finishes, enthusiastically.

Looking at Lucas, Mark thinks that he must have been a very popular person when he was still alive. Even dead, there seems to be a very strong spark of life that clings to him and lights up the room, making it feel full even with just the two of them inside. 

“Come here.” says Mark, addressing Lucas.

Mark stretches his arms out towards the other boy and pulls him into a hug.

"I’m glad I met you, Lucas."

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Lucas seamlessly starts to integrate himself into Mark’s life beyond being Mark’s ghostly roommate.

He is still not able to go out in large crowds or for extended periods of time, however Lucas has slowly been introducing himself to Mark’s friends one by one.

The first person that Lucas meets is unplanned, and it is, unsurprisingly, Donghyuck.

Huddled around Mark’s laptop, the pair are watching a western reality show about kids aspiring to become rappers, with Lucas exaggeratedly imitating every contestant, prompting Mark to fall into one of his many giggle fits. 

From inside, the sound of Donghyuck’s knocks cannot be carried over the blaring of the Cypher beats and Mark’s giggles, and so Donghyuck uses the spare key that Mark had given him (best friend rights, and all that) and let himself in. 

“Oh, Haechan! You’re here, is it 2pm already?” asks Mark, in surprise.

“It’s good to know that you’re alive and functioning, since it’s always a gamble with you. I came to collect you since you weren’t replying to our texts.” deadpans Donghyuck, holding up his phone as evidence against Mark. Turning to acknowledge Lucas, Donghyuck adds “Hello random person in Mark’s dorm.”

Smiling widely, Lucas sends Donghyuck a salute. “Hello, my name is Lucas! Wassup man!”

“Ah, he’s a friend from class.” explains Mark, grabbing his jacket. “Are Jaemin and Jeno downstairs?”

“Yeah, the movie starts in like half an hour though, so we have time.” says Donghyuck, following Mark to the door. Pausing, he asks “Is it alright to just leave him alone in here?”

“Who? Lucas?” asks Mark, raising both of his eyebrows. “It’s alright, he lives in this block and he can show himself out once he’s done. It’s cool.”

“Well, alright.” says Donghyuck, sceptically.

“Bye, have fun!” shouts Lucas from the couch.

Following Donghyuck, introductions to everyone else came naturally, and eventually all of Mark’s friends knew that he had a loud and very tall friend named Lucas.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


It’s not exactly meant to be a secret but somehow it becomes one.

Mark never tells anyone else that Lucas is a ghost, nor does he plan to. 

He doesn’t bring the subject up with Donghyuck again and Mark assumes that Donghyuck has either forgotten about it or dismissed it as some kind of fatigue-induced fever-dream that Mark had imagined from the start.

It does become a little difficult to explain why Lucas always seems to be over at Mark’s place though. Mark’s neighbour, Renjun, has seen them coming and going together a lot and Mark suspects that the Chinese boy assumes that he and Lucas are a couple.

Offhandedly, Mark mentions this to Lucas once, asking if people might start to wonder why they were always together, but Lucas had argued that wouldn’t it be weirder if he suddenly disappeared mid-conversation and people kept finding Mark laughing by himself. 

Mark had to agree with his logic there.

“If people think that we’re a couple, then let them think we’re a couple. I don’t care.” says Lucas, jovially. _“Me, no worries.”_

Giggling, Mark covers his face with his hands. He concedes “Ahh, okay, okay. If you don’t care, I don’t care either then.”

“Besides, wouldn’t we be a cute couple?” says Lucas, placing his large hands on either side of Mark’s face and rubbing his nose into Mark’s.

Laughing, Mark scrunches his nose up in response. “Stop, that tickles!”

“See? We’d be so cute.” says Lucas, smiling as he stares down at Mark.

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Mark starts taking better care of himself now, but because he’s _Mark_ , that really means that he is operating at a ‘barely functioning’ level now instead of the dangerous ‘on the brink of collapse’ level that he had been before.

Therefore, logically, in his limited spare time in between managing deadlines, responsibilities, and social commitments, Mark starts researching ghosts.

Because it is the internet, there is mostly a bunch of bullshit that doesn’t get Mark anywhere. He has to filter through pages and pages of false claims, made-up horror stories, and psychic scams, in order to even get to accounts of people talking ‘seriously’ about ghost incidences.

Even then, most of the claims sound fake and don’t apply to Lucas at all.

Some people swear that ghosts don’t show up in mirrors or cameras, and that if they do they appear as balls of light or ‘orbs’. There are also stories of teenagers pointing their Snapchat and Instagram filters at empty corridors and having the apps detect faces when there is nothing there.

Experimenting with the rumour, Mark had tried it only to find that Lucas appears in every one of Mark’s photos like any regular human being when he is visible to Mark, and when he disappears, he simply doesn’t show up at all. 

Huffing slightly, Mark decides to disregard everything else he reads on that website and continue scrolling through the endless pages of results on Google. 

He decides to narrow his search query down to simply ‘how can a ghost become human again?'

The situation doesn’t improve much but Mark is at least able to take down some notes on somewhat creditable leads as to how ghosts can occupy a corporeal body, and various methods to capture and contain ‘ghostly energy’ which Mark wonders may be able to help Lucas spend a longer time around more humans without becoming tired so quickly.

Yawning, Mark glances at the library clock and feels that he has found enough information for one day. Packing up, Mark is about to close all of his tabs when he spies a link at the bottom of the open page.

 _‘How to help lingering spirits move on and be at peace’_ , it reads.

Pausing, Mark frowns.

Mark had been so busy trying to find a way to improve Lucas’ ‘life’ as a ghost, that he had completely disregarded a more important question.

 _Does Lucas even want to stay as a ghost?_

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Hey, you’ve just finished your last assignment for the semester right?”

Mark jumps when he hears Lucas’ deep voice in his ear. 

Spinning around, he sees that Lucas is sitting in one of the empty chairs of Mark’s usual table at the library, tipping backwards on the legs of his chair.

The entire floor of the library is pretty quiet tonight since it is nearing the end of term.

“Oh, hello Lucas.” greets Mark shyly, tilting his laptop screen away from the other. "Were you looking for me?”

It’s not that Mark is avoiding Lucas, not exactly, however he is kind of keeping it hidden from the other right now that he is researching ghosts. It seems a bit silly to be looking up information about ghosts when Mark has an actual ghost living with him. 

“Shouldn’t you be taking a break for now?” asks Lucas, smoothing a palm over Mark’s hair and resting it on the smaller boy’s nape. “Or do you feel like you have to start studying for exams already?”

Mark leans back into the touch; Lucas’ hand feels warm and secure, and when the other starts rubbing lightly at his neck muscles, Mark can feel some of his stress unwind. 

“No, not exactly. Although, I should probably start on that soon.” Mark answers, muttering the last part to himself.

“Then what? You were frowning at your laptop like it offended you.” Lucas asks, looking concerned. He suddenly adopts a comical frown, widening his eyes. "Did it say something mean to you? I can give it a stern talking to if you want."

Mark stifles his giggles with both hands, even though they are mostly alone here, it’s still a library so they can’t be too loud.

“Of course not! You’re being silly.” he chides softly.

Lucas laughs happily, responding “There, you look better when you’re smiling. So what was it that made you upset earlier?” He withdraws his hand and places it under his chin, elbow on the table.

“I wasn’t upset, not really.” replies Mark.

Shuffling closer, Lucas leans down into Mark’s space. He’s close enough now that Mark can feel some of his blond fringe tickling Mark’s forehead.

“You looked tired and sad.” he says.

“I’m always tired.” states Mark, quietly. He glances up at Lucas and takes in the other’s concerned gaze and reassuring smile.

Hesitantly, Mark angles the screen towards Lucas.

Lucas squints at the laptop and reads slowly. He had told Mark early on that whilst his spoken Korean was pretty good, it is still a struggle to read long paragraphs quickly. Mark had empathised and shared that he'd had trouble too when he had first moved to Korea but it gradually got easier over time.

“How to... get rid of a ghost… and make it... move on?” drawls Lucas in his low voice. 

It’s torturous to hear Lucas read it out aloud so slowly and Mark’s heartbeat starts thrumming loudly in his ears.

Lucas blinks twice and processes the sentence.

He turns to Mark and asks “You want to get rid of me? Am I bothering you?”

Desperately, Mark waves his hands in the air, trying to convey how wrong he is. 

“No! No, definitely not! I like you! I like you a lot, probably more than I should.” shouts Mark, the volume of his voice increasing but he doesn’t really care about the library rules anymore.

Raising his own hands in front of him, Lucas waves his hands at Mark like he is trying to placate a startled animal. 

“Calm down, Mark. I understand.” says Lucas softly. “Then why?’

Mark looks up at Lucas with a defeated expression. 

Lucas thinks that even though Mark is always running himself ragged, he has never seen the other boy looking like this. Mark may look tired, but he never looks _defeated._

“D-don’t you want to move on? Don’t all ghosts want to move on?” says Mark, voice devoid of happiness.

Pursing his lips, Lucas considers the question. He takes his time to answer and Mark looks progressively more and more nervous.

“Why would I? Moving on sounds scary.” Lucas finally says, sighing. He leans back and regards Mark, maintaining eye contact. “Also, I’m not in any hurry to move on. I like it here.” 

The silent _‘with you’_ that is implied lingers in the air between them.

Slowly, Mark nods contemplatively before speaking again. 

“B-but what if there was a way to make you human once more?” asks Mark, tentatively.

Frowning sternly, Lucas shuts down that train of thought before it can grow.

“Mark, that's dangerous territory.” he reprimands, in an odd scenario where _Lucas_ is the one that has to be the voice of reason.

Leaning forward, Mark says, eyes shining with unshed tears. “I just want you to be at peace. I want you to be happy.” 

It sounds like an overly-simple wish that paints Mark with a glow of childlike innocence, tugging at the heartstrings of Lucas’ already dead heart.

Gathering Mark into his arms, Lucas replies “I’d be more at peace if you weren’t about to pass out in front of me. I’m happy if I get to be with you.” 

The ache in his chest grows stronger so he presses his forehead into Mark’s and hugs him tighter.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head over this anymore, okay?”

  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Mark lives in a tiny one-person dorm that comes with a one-person price tag and has a wardrobe filled with clothes that fit only one person.

However, when Mark wakes up in the morning, he awakes to warm, solid arms around him that belong to a tall boy with bronzed skin and a blinding smile. 

Lucas never leaves any hairs or eyelashes on Mark’s bed, but the areas where Lucas had been lying feel warm to the touch and the impressions that he leaves on the bed are enough to make Mark believe that Lucas is as real as Mark himself is.

The emotions that Lucas makes him feel are real.

Opening his eyes, Mark sees that Lucas is already watching him, mouth stretching into a charming smile when he notices that Mark is awake.

“Good morning.” says Lucas, leaning down to deliver a chaste kiss to Mark’s lips.

“Morning.” Mark replies, nose crinkling up in delight.

Mark still doesn’t know if Lucas is meant to move on one day, or if this is the best thing for a ghost to do. However, this _thing_ between them, this tentative budding relationship, is what the both of them want right now. It might even be what Lucas needs the most.

So, Mark decides.

He’s not going to worry about it anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! ♥
> 
> [@neocheckmark](https://twitter.com/neocheckmark) on twitter - feel free to yell at me about mark, or lucas, or mark and lucas bc i am trash for this ship ;A;


End file.
